Cooking for one (Mark Three)

caronc

Good evening everyone,

It never really warmed up today so not a lot of time was spent in the garden. Got some deadheading done but that's about it. Did get the indoor chores I wanted do out of the way though.

My son is en route and should be here about 8.30 so not CFO tonight. I've popped some pork ribs in the SC with a peri peri marinade. I'll finish them in the oven so they are nice and sticky. We'll have a baked spud, coleslaw and salad with them so not much prep needed.

I might not be about much for a couple of days so hope everyone has a good weekend.

Brambling

Enjoy your family time Caronc

Another warm day, the garden could do with rain but none forecast for the next week, so what I would like is some gentle summer rain, after dark :rotfl: nothing planned for the weekend, maybe a walk but definitely time pottering in the garden I need to check there's nothing lurking under the dogwood as the cat is spending a lot of time investigating there. I've tried to kill them several times by chopping them down as they block the back gate but they just come back with attitude, I can't get the roots up so will need to get someone in, my nephew broke my fork when he tried :eek:

Lunch was a scotch egg and salad, dinner is late for me and as I'm not that hungry will be cba I have some crumpets that good old CFO standby or I've cooked a ham hock, Waitrose YS half price one of those which just needed the last 40mins in oven to finish off so may be another salad rather than the new potatoes and veg I planned.

Klew356 I always think of fish with samphire probably because of the saltiness, but I have seen it in recipes served with lamb which looks good and I keep meaning to try

PasturesNew

I got the quiche I bought yesterday out of the fridge, intending to slice it into 3 for the freezer .... then I decided to eat a piece ... so just froze 2 pieces.



I do like a bit of quiche, but I've eaten a whole one and one third since yesterday so I'm all quiched out now!

I wish I'd had the patience to warm it up in the oven.... but I didn't, I ate all pieces cold from the fridge... oh well.

[Deleted User]

I am treating a dd to lunch out, a nice and down to earth restaurant which only uses local ingredients. She is doing emergency community medic-based stuff not far away, loves this work, and people are so grateful, not like some of the `richer` people she deals with.


Breakfast was a rm, the lamb/caulie effort, was nice with allotment kale. Later had flaxseed crackers with one slice of cheddar and half a ripe tomato. Love those crackers and will always make them, they keep very well in the fridge



Now drinking a drink, cold and nice, oat milk/hemp/frozen blackcurrants and more than usual cacao. Tastes of chocolate. I have been relaxed today, only put one load of washing out and changed my bed

Farway

Relaxed start for the day, once more out early picking raspberries, wild strawberries plus some red & white currants to add to the nuked porridge, honey and HM yoghurt, feeling sort of healthily self sufficient, except for the couple of pounds gained this week, Fathers' Day pizza, chocs & shortbread biscuits:o

Popped out, only needed milk, nothing much else to take my fancy

Hot sun, watered more of the pot plants, getting very dry now, I noticed the ground's cracking, need rain, like Brambling requested, gently & after dark

Now I've tidied up the goosegog area I spotted 11 apples on my 2015 YS £1.49 "Champion" apple from L's. I had one fruit last year, 11 apples easily pays for the tree, plus the pleasure of the blossom

Lunch was bacon, lettuce, tom & mayo sarnie, then a banana later

Dinner, it has to be salad this weather, certainly too hot to slave over a hot stove / nuker
I think it will be the lazy option, open tin of salmon, frozen chips in Actifry and 1950s style salad

I'm a recent convert to salad cream on chips so can indulge that today

moneyistooshorttomention

Ummm...fingers crossed for you Farway re all 11 of your apples being "yours".

Personally - I've found it more than a little frustrating that plenty of apples come up - but "things" get to a lot of them (be it birds or some sort of blight-y type thing that I don't know what its called). I still get quite a few - but have had to get used to chopping duff (or -pecked at) bits out of various apples I've just picked from my trees.

Fingers crossed I'm due for a lot of plums this year (not a lot - either problems or birds) seems to get to them thankfully.

As for the strawberries - there was absolutely loads last year - but this year I'm finding there are rather fewer of them and most of them are rather smaller. Am guessing this might mean most of the particular plants are the ones I deliberately planted in previous years and they've now "had it" a bit?? Not to mention one of my strawberry patches has a tendency to develop flattened bits - and my suspicion is that that is down to one of the neighbourhood cats has taken a liking to it as place to have a lie-down??:mad: So - this year I'm having a few strawberries asap and some are going into the freezer - but I have a feeling I won't be giving any of them away this year. With the price organic strawberries cost - I make sure I keep whatever I need myself of my strawberries first...

[Deleted User]

Nice to get surprise apples farway.

I have just done a money check via m/s money and I will be having a no extra-spend month, again. Its quite hard to manage on one fixed income but better the reality check occuring now. I have plenty of food in and lots of fresh pickings on the allotment and enough hobbies to stop me being bored
No idea about food tomorrow but really has to be salad. Far too hot for anything else. Allotment ground is showing big cracks, I am watering what will not survive but it takes tremendous effort and a lot of walking with heavy weights. Think I will cycle up now

Brambling

I remember walking over 10000 steps watering the allotment one night during a really hot summer, I will admit to not missing that part of having one, it did help to make me fitter :cool:

Too hot to feel like cooking today, sandwich using some of the LO ham hock and spinach for lunch. Dinner was a jacket potato with HM coleslaw and cheese I used my air fryer to avoid turning the oven on for just one potato.

Farway

Up and after pot of tea, porridge, banana, honey & HM yoghurt breakfast out early volunteer garden watering before the heat got going

I misjudged my bread this week, after last week's went mouldy, luckily the co-op is opposite the volunteer garden, so all jobs & shopping done, back home by 0930

Another spot of gardening before the heat, fed the toms in the conservatory, the pedestal fan is earning it's space in there today

Lunch will be the last of the bacon, using fresh WM bread, in a sarnie with lettuce, tom & mayo

Dinner, too far away to think about it, probably CBA lazy salad & LO salmon, I may try Brambling style baked spud using Actifry, must check how in case I finish up with a jumbo chip

Brambling

Farway wrote: »

Dinner, too far away to think about it, probably CBA lazy salad & LO salmon, I may try Brambling style baked spud using Actifry, must check how in case I finish up with a jumbo chip

Farway I followed my big sister's instructions which were microwave to start it off (depending on size approx 5 mins) then add to actifry for approx 10 mins no oil and to me it tastes like a oven one. I don't have a flash airfryer just one of those simple ones. In fact if this heat carries on I may have another one for tonight